The invention is generally related to devices that are used for straining liquid from solid food. Specifically, there is a food strainer that fits a multiple of pot and pan sizes and securely couples to those various size devices. More particularly, there is a food strainer that provides for reduced exposure for the user to harmful steam during the act of straining food. Additionally, there is a food strainer that provides for a more balanced handling of the heavy pot or pan during the act of straining.
Ever since pots and pans have been used to cook food, food preparers have needed to remove liquid from the solid food before emptying the food contents from the container. This simple act of straining food, has a number of hazards that have caused many injuries. For example, when food is boiled, hot steam raises from the pot. If no strainer is used when the water is poured out of the pot, the users arms are typically positioned on either side of the pot to hold the handles, thus the users arms and hands are exposed to the dangerous steam. If a typical strainer is used, as is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,534, it is placed over the pot while the user holds the strainer handle and the pan handle, which can be quite a trick to do, and thus increasing the risk of dropping the pot from the complexity of holding all the handles. Thus, there is a need for a strainer that provides for reduced exposure for the user to harmful steam during the act of straining food.
Additionally, there is the problem of balancing this pan when a user tips it over to pour the liquid contents out to separate it from solid food contents. For example, if there is a typical pan, there is a single long handle, such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,220,534 and 2,520,382. Filling that pan full of hot grease and heavy meat, and the act of tipping that pan over with only the thin handle requires a great deal of strength in the hands and arms. If a user lacks the required strength, there is a risk of dropping the pan and its dangerously hot grease and food onto themselves. Add the difficulty of holding a strainer to that act and it is understandable that every year, literally tens of thousands of cooks are injured due to dropped pans. Thus, there is a need for a strainer that provides for a more balanced handling of the heavy pot or pan during the act of straining.
Another problem with using liquid strainers is that one strainer often does not fit effectively over many sizes of pots and pans. Where there is not a good fit between the two devices, the strainers can fall of the pot or pan thus causing the food to pour down the drain, the pot could be dropped, and the user could be injured. Thus, there is a need for a strainer that fits a multiple of pot and pan sizes and securely couples to those various size devices.
There are a number of prior patents which disclose food straining devices. Examples of these patents, each of which is incorporated by reference for its supporting teachings, are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,045 is a cooking utensil in the form of a pan having upstanding walls and a lid or cover supportable by the upper edges of the walls and which is dimensioned to fit into the interior of the pan for use as a food scoop or spatula. In its preferred embodiment, the cover is generally planar and perforated enabling its use as a sieve for the draining of cooking fluids from food supported thereon and as a porous cover which promotes condensation of cooking vapors for basting the food being cooked in the pan.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,534 is a detachably secured food straining screen is formed with lower and upper peripheral grooves for pressure fitting engagement with the top of a cooking pot and the bottom of a cover for that pot, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,800 is a strainer which may be adapted to fit over an opening of a variety of food storage and preparation containers comprising a flexible matrix, a flexible cord which is slidably disposed within a conduit, said conduit being located along the perimeter of said matrix and having an opening through which the ends of said cord protrude, and a means for releasably engaging the ends of said cord, wherein after said strainer is placed over the opening of the container, the ends of said cord are pulled through said engaging means to adapt the circumference of the conduit to that of the container, said cord being engaged when said conduit contacts the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,670 is a steam pan manipulation device (16) is provided for handling stainless steel pans (10), commonly known as steam pans or hotel pans, of varying sizes as found in commercial restaurant, catering, and hotel applications for use in steam tables. Use of the device (16) permits the worker to safely carry a tray full of liquid without sloshing, since the center of gravity of the liquid is lower than the point of carrying. Furthermore, the steam pan manipulation device (16) features apertures of an appropriate size, so that the device may be also used as a strainer for separating liquid from the content of the tray while retaining solid content in the tray.
Other patents also teaching straining devices for food are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,240,348, 2,541,094, 2,520,682, 2,507,159, 2,400,642, 2,284,342, 2,133,724, 1,325,613 and 1,214,800.
While the foregoing patents disclose improvements in the area of food straining devices, none of these patents disclose, either by themselves or in combination with each other, the invention as described and claimed in the forgoing specification, drawings and claims.
There is therefore provided devices that are used for straining liquid from solid food. Specifically, there is a food strainer that fits a multiple of pot and pan sizes and securely couples to those various size devices. There is a food strainer that provides for reduced exposure for the user to harmfull steam during the act of straining food. There is a food strainer that provides for a more balanced handling of the heavy pot or pan during the act of straining.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention so that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and so that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the preferred embodiment may readily be used as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims are regarded as including such equivalent constructions since they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Therefore, there is a food strainer, for straining liquid from solid food from a food container, comprising: a base, having a top and bottom surface, and back, front and side edge, also having a center line that divides the base into even back and front edges; a handle, coupled to the base proximate the back edge and extending above the top surface of the base, and positioned with equal parts straddling the center line of the base; a fin, positioned proximate the handle and coupled to the base proximate the back edge, and extending below the bottom surface of the base, and positioned with equal parts straddling the center line of the base; and a first and second coupling, positioned on the front edge of the base, and positioned so the first coupling is on one side of the center line and the second coupling is on another side of the center line.
In addition, the food strainer has the first and second couplings are equal distance from the center line. The handle and fin form an angle between them that ranges from about 10 degrees to about 155 degrees. The first and second couples have: a receiver section, coupled to the base, designed to receive a lip of a pot; a tab, extending from the receiver section, forming a angle that is not perpendicular to the base. The base includes a plurality of openings formed near the front edge to allow liquid to escape from a pot that is being strained. The front edge of the base forms an arc and the side edges form parallel edges extending parallel to the center line.
Additionally there is a food strainer, comprising: base, forming a major plane; a handle, coupled to the base and extending above the major plane; a fin, positioned proximate the handle, coupled to the base, and extending below the major plane; and a coupling, coupled to the base opposite to the handle, and designed to enable holding of a pot lip thereby. The food strainer is made of a heat resistant material or a heat transmitting material, or a combination of both.
Further, the purpose of the abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to find out quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, neither is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.